18 month old making object sounds

[hotharmony]

So my son knows what things are but he refuses to say the words for particular objects.

Example:
Train: he says choo choo
Dog: he says woof woof
Cat: he says ieee
Cars: beep

Is this normal behavior and when should I start to be concerned. This is not the only stuff he can say he said cheeta this morning while watching animal planet and he can say all kinds of words.

[spmamma]

I wouldn't worry about it. DD had all kinds of "words" for objects, animals, etc. at that age. Often, she'd use the sound, just like your DS.

I wouldn't bother trying to correct him. He'll get it eventually (DD did and she was late with a lot of words). I promise, he won't go off to college saying that he'll miss his woof woof as he boards the choo choo.

[LadyCatherine185]

DS did that for awhile too. Then he started replacing the "sounds" for the real words. Totally normal.

[birthangeldoula]

DD does that now. When we go to my brother's house she always points to his doggies and just says "woof woof" instead of doggie. She does the same to our kitty and just makes the sound meow sound too. Totally normal!

[Anna's Lovey]

Anna did the exact same thing at 18 months. At two, she still insists on saying "roar" for elephant!

[nukuspot]

My DD is younger but she calls dogs "Woof woof", cats are "Ieee" (Isn't that strange that she uses the same sound for cat as your LO?) Our chickens are "eeeeeee" (hard to type but it's the same sounds they make) and birds can either be "bir" or "tweet tweet." Cows are "Mmmmmm". I assume it's normal since they both do it?

[ShyDaisi]

Originally Posted by LadyCatherine185

DS did that for awhile too. Then he started replacing the "sounds" for the real words. Totally normal.

Yup, Micah did this too. Cows were moos with the sign; horses were neighs with the sign; frogs were are-bits (the letter R-bits); elephants were their noise (no idea how to type it) with the sign; lions and tigers were a roar (not the word, the sound); monkeys were ooh-ooh-aah-aah with the sign. The sounds are slowly fading...

[tbone_kneegrabber]

It counts as a "word." If you were having a speech eval, making the appropriate sound effect is the "same" as saying the word.

[Angela512]

And I wouldn't worry about him not "talking" right away. My DD talked at age 18 months, full sentences, conversation. My DS1 would say a few words (mama, dada, etc) but refused to talk until he was almost 3. Everyone told me to just be patient and he would talk when he was ready...and now he doesn't stop talking.